The Kitsune's Hunter
by Femslash Extraordinaire
Summary: A yokai sprinted in front of her and she instinctively stopped. Allison's blood froze. Uh oh.


They were everywhere.

Allison lurched forward, eyes forward, trying not to give herself away.

If they found out she saw them, they'd terrorize her again like they did in America. She was so close to the school, if she could only go a little bit further...

A yokai sprinted in front of her and she instinctively stopped.

Allison's blood froze. Uh oh. The other ones turned towards her. Some had no faces, ghastly apparitions that had the shaping of both an animal and a human, while others were deformed with strange faces - some with one eye, others with more than twenty. A cold spell swept through her, and she shivered then breathed shakily in and out.

A beat of silence passed, stillness, and then, she ran in the opposite direction. The yokai burst into action right behind her. They were everywhere she looked, everywhere she stepped, and no matter how much she ran, she couldn't get away from them.

Suddenly, a small, fluffy yokai with a large smile and sharp teeth jumped onto her face. She tripped.

"No!" Allison shouted as she fell. As she got up, Allison ripped the creature off. Another grabbed onto her feet and she kicked it on the head. She surged up and started sprinting again.

Allison had no clue what to do. This used to be a daily occurrence in California after her parents had died. She had suddenly started seeing these creatures and they tormented her no matter what she did to try to prevent it. Her cousin, Rose, had helped her through it and brought her to Japan. Rose said that it would be better here: none of them would recognize her, the aura masker would work if she just ignored them. A normal life could have been possible, but things change so quickly. Allison wanted to cry.

She couldn't keep running forever. But she couldn't go to school. School was at least five blocks away. Not to mention that she didn't want them to see her like this. She was the cool foreigner. If she started fighting things no one could see, everyone would think she had lost her mind. That was the last thing she wanted.

Coming up, a detour into an alleyway stood out like a neon sign. The urge to go down there burned in her stomach. She ran harder, legs aching and breath ragged.

Allison turned onto it and the yokai didn't follow her in. They tried to, but a barrier held them at bay.

Strange. But she wasn't complaining.

She turned to look down the alleyway. It seemed normal. Only, the more she looked, the more it warped and became unusual. A sign that held the kanji for Kitsune appeared in front of a shoddy door that was bathed in fluorescent lights. Allison went further in, transfixed on the door. Her hand went up to it, but before she could open the door, it opened.

"...everything will be alright," a woman she'd never seen before purred. She wore a traditional kimono, her hair was down, and were those fox ears? The woman stared intently at another woman beside her, who appeared dazed and confused as if she didn't know what had just transpired.

The dazed woman walked passed her and Allison watched as she disappeared behind the hoard of yokai.

"Come inside." She jumped and turned back towards the woman.

She didn't even know who this woman was, much less trust her enough to go inside her shady shop. This was weird and something about it didn't sit right with her, but Allison followed her inside anyways.

The inside was completely contrary to the exterior. The style was old and traditional as well as clean like not one thing was out of place. The first room held a low to the ground table in the middle and mats around it. The walls and floors were simplistic in style; the only colors were white, the brown from the wood, and the black from the picture of a mountain that spanned an entire wall. The woman opened the sliding door. The next room was larger with three other doors each with their own color - blue, orange, and black. A throne-like chair sat at the further end and across from it was a pool of water in a large bowl on a gold table. A teapot and a few cups sat next to that on a smaller table next to the throne.

The woman poured her a cup of tea.

"Allison is it?"

Wait - she knew her name?

"Who - "

The woman sipped her tea. "Those yokai really liked you."

"Liked is a strong word."

"I wouldn't say so. While they might only like you for simple things like being able to see them and your aura, they still like you in that respect. They wouldn't chase you around if that wasn't true." The woman paused as if an idea suddenly occurred to her. "Would you like it if I got rid of them for you?"

The words jolted her. She could do that? How was that possible?

Allison opened her mouth to ask questions, but before she could, a loud noise came from the black door and someone - or as she soon found out, somethings were fighting.

The two things were like yokai only they...weren't. They were foxes that had the same other-worldly aura about them. One had a necklace on with a large ball of energy swirling about at the end of it and the other one was smaller and without a necklace. They were fighting and screaming at each other in a language Allison didn't understand. The woman snapped her fingers and they immediately stopped.

"You know better than to frighten our guest." She sipped her tea again, this time for a longer duration as she stared holes into the two. They avoided the woman's eyes.

"Are they yokai?"

The two snapped their eyes up to met hers.

"Yokai?" the one with the necklace said and then huffed. "What do you take us for?"

The other one chimed in, "We're kitsune, obviously."

"But you both feel kinda like them…"

The two kitsunes laughed. The bigger one said, "You mean because we're spirits - ?"

Kira cut off whatever more he was about to say. "That's enough out of you two. Go lie down or something."

They whined and both said at the same time, "But that's boring."

She shooed them away and poured herself another cup. The two kitsunes stayed where they were. The woman didn't protest.

"Who are you?" Allison finally said after the long pause.

The woman smiled. "A friend. Or soon to be. You may call me Kira."

"So can you really help me with the yokai?"

"Of course I can. The real question is if can you pay me."

Allison paused then cursed her luck. She was broke and had next to no money and she couldn't ask her cousin. While she could pay for her most of the time, they were already struggling. Something as big as this had to cost a lot.

"Not in money of course. You'll work for me."

Allison paused, a smile growing on her lips. A job was doable. If Kira was serious, she wouldn't have to deal with the yokai anymore. It'd be all over and she could live a normal life.

"What do I have to do?"

Kira smirked and put her cup down. "Babysit my kitsune."

The two objected quickly, but Allison didn't pay attention to them. Only babysitting? That would be easy enough.

"You have a deal then."

Kira stood up, moved sideways, and motioned towards her chair and the water in the bowl across from it. "Sit and drink."

Allison's brow crinkled. The water was murky and something about it felt otherworldly.

"It'll be painless. I promise."

Allison's gaze snapped up to meet her eyes. She seemed genuine.

Nodding, Allison got up slowly, eyes going back to the strange water. She made her way to the other side of the table and sat on Kira's throne-like chair.

Could Kira really do what she wanted her to do? What was this water? What if it just made everything worse? There were no other options though. She at least had to try, do something other than run. Swallowing thickly, Allison dipped her hands in the water. The feeling was strange. The water felt like normal water would, but it was unnaturally warm and no matter how far she stuck her hands down, she didn't reach the bottom. Like it was infinite. Allison cupped the water in her hands and brought it to her lips.

The next thing she knew, she was in school. The rest of the day went by in a flash and Allison was left wondering if she had imagined the whole thing.

* * *

She knew she didn't imagine anything when the yokai did nothing when she walked by them coming home from school. Allison even walked up to one and waved her arms to see if they would react. Nothing. Not even a twitch. It made her smile until her cheeks hurt and she was pretty sure people thought something was wrong with her, edging away when she passed.

Oh well. Nothing could detract from this happiness.

After school she headed to the Kitsune, though trying to remember where exactly it was was a hassle and took around an hour to figure out.

Outside the door on the step lay a note saying Kira was away and that everything she would need was inside.

While she was somewhat okay with that, anxiety sat like coal in her stomach. Could she do this alone? She didn't know these kitsune. Plus, there had to be a reason why they needed a babysitter. They must get in trouble a lot or do things that required a constant vigilance.

Allison opened the door and went through the house, pausing in the room with all of the doors. The Kitsune weren't there.

She went further in, going through the black door she saw the kitsune go through before. The room was a large modern kitchen with stainless steel appliances. The small kitsune was sifting through a cupboard and the other one was sprawled on a counter watching the other.

"There you guys are," Allison said.

They both turned at the same time. "You're here." The one with the necklace sighed loudly and the other jumped towards her. She flinched, but he landed on her shoulder.

"Make us food," he said.

The other one turned the other way, away from Allison as she continued to lie on the counter. "Careful Haku. She might not be able to do anything right."

What was that supposed to mean? "If you have something to say, say it."

"You've seen yokai for a long time but thought we were them. If that doesn't say something about you, I don't know what would."

Allison took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. She was not about to get into a fight with Kira's pets.

Instead, she went to the cupboards and looked to see if there was anything she could make in a hurry. There was rice and seaweed. Rice balls would be easy.

Allison got to work making them and ended up with about 10.

The two kitsune devoured the food and she smiled at how cute they looked. They stuffed most of the food in their mouths with their paws like they were starving. It was satisfying knowing that they liked the food. She had thought this would be hard, but it was going pretty great.

Allison should have known better.

There was only one rice ball left and both kitsunes wanted it. And they couldn't be normal. But then again, what was normal for kitsune?

"It's mine," Haku said.

The other one laughed. "Of course not. I'm the oldest so it's mine."

"Always the oldest card with you. I'm getting sick of it!" He barreled towards her. Magical waves shot off of her as she aimed a concentrated wave of it towards the other, but he dodged.

"Fuck!" Allison screamed as it barreled towards the cupboards and set them on fire. She ran to the ones on fire and then started looking for a pan or pitcher in the ones that weren't on fire. There had to be something that could hold water. There had to be. The fire was right above her. She could feel its heat. When she found it, she hopped up, only she shouldn't have. The fire touched her hair.

Her hair was on fire.

She sprinted to the sink and put her head under the running water. Sighing, Allison looked over and noticed the fire was spreading. Crap! Kira was going to kill her.

Hurriedly, Allison filled the pan with water and ran to the cupboards and threw it on. It helped a bit but not as much as she would like. She continued to do it until it was gone. The cupboards were charred. Allison wanted to cry. But she couldn't. Now that the fire wasn't there to distract her, she noticed that the kitsune were still fighting.

She narrowed her eyes and stalked towards them before grabbing them by the neck.

"Stop this right now! Do you see what you've done?" She turned them towards the damage. "How am I going to explain this to Kira? I know that I don't know you, but Haku and..."

"Shinobu!"

"...Shinobu, this is going to get fixed somehow. Stop fighting and help me clean this up."

"Why do I have to clean it up?" Haku whispered underneath his breath. Allison rolled her eyes.

How were they going to do this? Especially before Kira came home. Everything over there was trashed. But she had to try, didn't she?

Allison exhaled before looking through the kitchen for some sort of bucket and cleaning supplies. Surprisingly - or unsurprisingly considering how bad this day has gone - there were none.

She turned around to ask the kitsune, but they were using magic to clean up the mess, the damage going away bit by bit. Breathing a sigh of relief, she relaxed knowing at least today wasn't a complete disaster.

She attempted to keep the kitsune calm by entertaining them, breaking up any fights before they could happen. Kira didn't get home until much later.

She didn't hear or see Kira come through the door. When she did, she touched her shoulder.

Allison jumped and then laughed awkwardly. "Kira...you're back." She noticed her outfit afterwards. Instead of the formal kimono, she wore a more informal one, something shorter, more flowy. A staff that reached her chin was gripped firmly in her hand. The end was sharp with strips of ribbon and at the end of that, beads.

"That I am. You may go now if you like."

Allison checked her phone and her eyes widened. It was almost midnight. Rose was probably worried and it was school night. Where had the time gone?

"Yeah. I guess I'll go now." Allison bowed. Even after all of this time in Japan, bowing still felt foreign and awkward. "Thanks again...for everything."

Kira smiled. "There's no need to thank me. A favor for a favor as they say." Allison returned it and they paused, just staring at each other. She was really pretty, Allison noticed. So regal and graceful. Her hair looked soft and still perfectly in place.

The kitsunes ruined the moment by jumping on Kira in welcome. "Finally! I thought some monster had gotten you," Shinobu said.

They prattled on and acted like she would expect dogs to act with their owner if they could talk. Allison smiled softly at them. They were trouble, annoying most of the time, but still cute in their own way.

Allison got ready to leave but Kira stopped her on the way out. "Tomorrow again. Are you available?"

Allison nodded and Kira smiled in relief. "Thank goodness."

She could understand. The kitsunes were a handful. Kira had work to do and probably couldn't watch them as much as they needed to be watched.

Weeks passed and they fell into a schedule. Allison would come right after school to babysit and Kira would either have clients or be off to wherever she went. Not even for a second did Allison regret the deal. While this job took up all of her free time, she grew to like it and love being with everyone.

On a random Tuesday Kira broke the routine. She was waiting for her, had her casual kimono on, and a bow sitting next to her. Kira threw the bow to her.

"I got you something."

Allison inspected the bow. It appeared normal. But the more she looked at it, the more she noticed that faint imprints of complicated kanji were on the side.

She ran her hand over the wood and then gripped it. "Where did you get it?" It felt powerful. Like bolts of electricity were crawling up her arms.

Kira didn't answer her. Instead, she strode towards the orange door. She opened it up and a thin membrane of a gel-like material covered the entrance and beyond that, blackness. A sound akin to a low whistle sounded, like a beacon pulling her to the abyss.

Before Kira went through, she motioned for her to follow. Her heart thudded painfully in her chest. Where was this going to lead? Did Kira want her to defend her with the bow? Is that why she got it for her? But, how did Kira know that was Allison's preferred weapon? Then again Kira knew things no one else knew. Allison chalked it up to some kind of magic, but no one ever knew with Kira, least of all her.

Allison followed Kira through the door. The sensation was almost like water, but something thicker. Her ears popped and when she was all the way through, the sight made her pause.

This was the spirit world. Large pillars rose to the sky going into the clouds. All sorts of spirits were on the streets, most of which she had never seen before and weren't yokai, but unlike how yokai were on their world, they functioned how a regular human would. They communicated in some foreign language that sounded muddled, as if they weren't speaking at all. Everything had a transparent look to it, as if she could walk through anything.

Allison's gaze found Kira a second later, a little bit away and ran to catch up. "So what are we going to do here?"

"I've got a customer."

"But why did you bring me?"

"Insurance." She didn't say anymore. Allison didn't ask. She'd find out soon enough.

They continued through the strange world and Allison couldn't take her eyes off of it. She didn't think yokai or even spirits could be...like this. While she had been tormented by them, these felt different. Why?

This world was interesting and she had the urge to learn everything about it and uncover its secrets.

Kira stopped abruptly in front of a dumpling cart and Allison bumped into her.

"This is our stop."

No one was around, but Kira stared at something ahead, behind the cart.

She crossed her arms. "You called? I didn't think you dealt with the likes of me."

A figure faded into existence. A half-cat man. "I don't, but as always, you know my situation and why I must."

He swaggered up to her and held out what looked like some sort of currency. "Equal pay for equal work."

Kira laughed. "What? Measly coin? Especially in a currency that's useless."

"You know that's not true. But that's beside the point. I need help. They're after me."

Allison looked around. The spirits were staring at them, inching closer. "Kira," she whispered and gripped the bow.

If they came any closer, she would have to shoot.

"I will help if you give me what you promised me."

"Then," the man said, slowly backing up, eyes scanning the crowd, "I guess I have no choice do I?"

"Not really." Kira gestured around them. "Make your decision quick."

"Fine. I accept your terms."

Kira smiled and leaned back towards her before saying, "Are you ready? The fun is about to begin."

She grabbed the staff from in her kimono and slashed at the yokai about to touch them. The ones that got the full brunt of the force split apart and then disintegrated into a sickly green residue while the others jumped back before getting hit.

Kira turned to her afterwards. "A little help here."

Allison nodded and nocked her bow. They were coming strong from all sides and Allison didn't know which one to go after first.

"Just shoot, Allison," Kira said as she took out ten yokai with one slash and a kick.

She could do this. Allison just had to shoot. She drew the arrow back and shot at a yokai.

It exploded in a cloud of electricity. Woah. That was so cool. She drew it back again and shot. The same thing happened to the next spirit and the next.

"Allison!" Kira yelled as a large spirit took her bow from her hand and another slammed her on the ground, its hand on her neck.

She couldn't breathe.

"Ki-Kira," she choked out. _Help me._

Her vision grew fuzzy as she looked around. Everywhere she looked, they were there. They were going to overwhelm them and she couldn't even defeat this one much less stop them from overwhelming both Kira and her. Allison kicked it a couple of times, but it wouldn't budge.

Black spots littered her vision soon after. She was going to pass out soon if she didn't do something.

The bow was so close. The same spirit from before stared at her as it clutched her bow in its hands. She tried scratching at the one above her, but still. No movement other than its hands squeezing her throat with a tighter and tighter grip.

Before she could say her name again, Kira stabbed the creature, pressing down until the edge of her staff almost touched Allison's stomach. It exploded on top of her. Allison's eyes grew wide as the goo landed on her. This was going to be a bitch to clean up.

"Stay down. I'll handle this."

She spun her staff until it went from her hands and landed of its own accord in the middle of the hoard.

Kira started chanted after that in what sounded like ancient Japanese. Everything froze and stared in horror at Kira.

The chanting got louder, almost inhuman, until a bright light blinded her and all grew quiet. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes to find everything normal again. There was no sign of anything that had just happened. All of the spirits were going about their business like they were before.

"What just happened?" Allison asked as Kira collapsed. "Are you okay?!" She didn't answer her.

"She's exhausted herself. Drag her back to the shop," the half-cat man said suddenly.

Allison turned towards his voice, he nowhere in sight. "But how do I get back?"

He didn't answer her. She picked up the bow and put it around her neck before dragging Kira back from where they came. From what she remembered, there was no physical door, but a portal.

The image of her dragging Kira around the spirit world would be funny if she wasn't freaking out as much as she was. Surprisingly, the spirits didn't pay her any mind. When she came to the spot they came out previously, nothing was there.

"Hello? Shinobu? Haku?" No one answered her. "Please you guys. Answer me." Still nothing.

Allison sighed and started moving away when she heard loud laughter come from above her.

"Look at her Haku. So pathetic," Shinobu said. She looked up and saw them in a portal above her head.

"Stop laughing and help me get her through."

The portal moved in an instance until it was right in front of her. Allison dragged Kira through immediately after.

The kitsune took it from there and floated her to her room passed the kitchen.

"Are you sure you can take it from here?"

"Obviously. She'll wake up soon anyways," Shinobu said as she tended to Kira.

Allison paused in the doorway and watched Kira sleeping peacefully and the kitsune soon joined her.

Kira was a mystery. But she liked mysteries. And she liked it here even if today almost gave her a heart attack. She'd come back tomorrow and ask all of the questions she wanted to ask. But for tonight, Allison thinks she'll treat herself to some ramen and a nice hot bath.

* * *

 **This was super fun to write. So glad that I was able to claim** **sachandesu's art for the TW reverse bang. Thanks a bunch to my beta babs who, like always, was amazing.**


End file.
